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Deve Gowda clutches his purse tight and makes party presidents pay for everything from tea to furnishings at the JD(S) office, reports Hemanth Kashyap |
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By: |
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Date:
2008-4-17 |
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Place: |
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Billing blues
 | | SATISH ACHARYA |
H D Deve Gowda is so miserly he does not allow his party’s state president to spend a single paisa from the party’s kitty.
JD(S) president Merajuddin Patel spends Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 on office expenses every month, and all of it from his own pocket.
Two previous state presidents, N Thippanna and M P Prakash, both now in the Congress, also had
trouble getting Gowda to pay party bills.
“Becoming JD(S) state president is really a headache because the president is made to bear all expenses. And he is made a scapegoat the moment something goes wrong,” Prakash told MiD DAY.
Sons don’t care
Thippanna, who was president between 2005 and 2006, used to spend Rs 50,000 a month on office maintenance. “No one helped me, not H D Deve Gowda, the party’s national president, nor his sons Kumaraswamy and Revanna.”
Deve Gowda makes presidents pay for everything from tea to window curtains. “I had to pay all bills, whether it was Rs 100 or Rs 1 lakh. He used to tell me, ‘I have made you president and you have to do this’,” Thippanna recalled.
Hoary tradition!
That culture continues, says Thippanna’s successor Merajuddin Patel.
“I spend Rs 60,000 a month, and I’ve been doing it since I became president,” he said.
Once elections were announced, his expenses went up. He had to get the office painted, the carpets changed, and the premises done up. That set him back by some lakhs.
“I also spend on snacks when meetings and press conferences take place,” he said.
But that’s not all. If a state president raises funds, Deve Gowda promptly puts them into the party kitty, and orders him to spend, as usual, from his pocket, a source said.
1-2-3 check
With elections approaching, expenses are shooting up. Merajuddin Patel is paying for public address systems, banners and buntings.
The party president is also made to shell out salaries for workers employed at the party office.
“Deve Gowda watches me closely and I have to obey him at any cost,” said Merajuddin Patel. A source said Deve Gowda threatens to throw out presidents who seek funds for party expenses.
Car seva
Presidents don’t even get a car or fuel.
“Deve Gowda told me to use my own car. But in other parties cars are given even to youth wing presidents,” said Thippanna.
Even Merajuddin Patel drives around in his own vehicle. Merajuddin Patel
Currently spends Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 a month N Thippanna
Spent Rs 50,000 a month when he was state party president |
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